I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions

This won’t be a post about my resolutions for this year. Because I won’t be making any. I don’t think planning a major change in your life simply because the cycle of a calendar ends is necessarily effective. You won’t magically feel dedicated to loosing weight, or saving money, or do whatever other cliche resolutions are just because the last number of the date you sign with has changed.

Sure, you might feel new energy. Creating new plans is always exciting! But that energy won’t last. That’s why if you go to a gym on January 3rd, you won’t be able to find a free machine. Come back to the same gym in March, and where are all those people? Probably at Taco Bell.

I am not about the New Year, New Me. HOWEVER, I think this is a good a time as any to reflect.

Reflect. Think about all that had happened these past 365 days. Once you start remembering, you will realize a lot more has happened that you think.

Process. Feel pride in your accomplishments this year. Acknowledge any missteps you may have taken. Reminisce on all the good memories you had, (it’ll help imprint those moments in your memory!). Let go of any bad vibes.

Express. We all have people around us that affect our lives in various ways. If you are grateful for someone’s presence in your life this past year, tell them! If you behaved poorly towards someone, go apologize, asshole. Communicate with the people you care about. It’s also a great way to get feedback from them. Expressing yourselves to others usually elicits a response.

You don’t need to do this now just because it’s the beginning of a new year. But you should set a time to do it every so often. Do it every six months. Do it on your birthday. Do it the day of your last breakup, but only on leap years. I don’t give a * when you do it. But do it! You will gain new perspective on your decision making and maybe get a little more energy for any resolutions you may have.